Best Dispersed Camping near Mountain Center, CA

We love BLM camping, but frankly living near LA free dispersed or BLM land is far between and hard to come by. Thankfully Joshua Tree has the perfect BLM spot just northeast of the park right south of the Pinto Mountain Wilderness. We usually come out here on holiday weekends because while the parks are full beyond capacity you can go days on BLM without seeing anyone. We’ve stayed two weeks before seeing one person in the “off season”. There’s a reason why us dirt bikers love this kind of area. Free camping, all the dirt trails you could ever want, full fire options, wonderful place to get space and seclusion; everything you could want as a disperser, minus access to water and shade (unless you bring it with you). And you should, the town is not close and the likelihood of encountering someone to help you out of a tough spot, or supplement missing something is near nil on the off-season. Remember people, this is the desert, if you don’t bring it with you, you won’t find it here. Inexperienced dispersed campers are not recommended. Many grossly underestimate the water/shade they will need/use and if you’ve never had to be 100% self sufficient, this is not the place to start. Cell service is spotty at best, and with the main road several miles away, and town several miles from there, not recommended unless you know you can be completely self reliant. Also in the summer temps soar easily in the 100s and drop hard after the sun goes down to the mid 50s. Even more unpredictable in the “off season”. That being said we love it here and get our desert fix in and plenty of dirt biking done. A great spot to go if you know what you’re doing, place your ego aside, if you know what you’re doing you’ll have a blast. Don’t? And you could end up in trouble quick. Can’t wait to go again in November!

Typical BLM land, not far at all from Joshua Tree Park. Open and spacious, was able to dig my daily fox hole butt naked in broad daylight without being spotted. Very dispersed, road wasn’t too bad either. I’ll stop by again if I can’t get a reservation in Joshua Tree Park next year. Thanks BLM!

This is just a dry lake bed not far from Josh Tree National Park. It’s just a dry lake bed on BLM land.

Not sure if this is the same place the rangers in Joshua Tree told us about, but if you drive North on Sunfair off of Route 62 and take a right on Sunflower, you can drive on to BLM land and find anywhere to camp on a dry lake bed. It was pretty open and incredible in late November.

As another reviewer noted - this spot is huge so make sure you are staying on BLM land. There is a lot of trash in some areas and there was some dirt bikes but they didn’t bother me. Car camping I found the area I liked best was as follows: off 62 take Sunfair rd, right on cypress rd (dirt road which my GPS thought was Reagan Rd but is marked with a street sign Cypress) - go past ITH coyote ranch (no sign but may show up on map) Then right on cascade - an unmarked dirt rd. Then there is a large flat BLM area where rvs and vans were quite spread out, and a motorcycle with a tent was my neighbor (quite far away). No trash here when I was there. Zero facilities obviously so pack it out. Hot tip - water and restrooms 10 min away at the Indian Cove ranger station near Indian Cove Campground in JT park. I stayed here two nights car camping.

For being a dispersed camping spot I am always impressed when there’s a bathroom! Definitely loved this spot. Stars for days! Coyotes came right by the van in the night though so watch your pets if you’re camping with them! Follow the road all the way back for two great hiking trails. One has petroglyphs and the other is an old homestead. I also make it a point to visit the slot canyon on the way in our out of this area!

Great free camping when campgrounds are booked. Easy to navigate with GPS. Many large and small sites along the road. Some spots more secluded than others.  Smaller rigs, medium clearance and lite off-road capabilities recommended. Good cellular reception in my particular location.

Anza Borrego Desert SP allows dispersed camping in certain areas of the park, and this is one of them.  I tried to find it on the website, but found no mention of allowed camping in the park.  However, it's listed in the visitor guide you can get from the visitor center.

The reviews on The Dyrt for the camping area directly across the street to the north of this section mentioned that there will be a campground built and fees charged in the near future, but I don’t think that’s the case for this side of the street. There was no signage or any signs of development here on this corner. Just lots of boondockers tucked in among all the shrubs, plenty of room for everyone. 

I could see this area getting annoying with ATVers on the weekends, but there were none when we were there mid week in April. A couple of obvious sketchy long termers there, with heaps of junk and posted signage to stay away, which wasn’t a problem as there was plenty of space to stay far away from them. 

Good cell service and beautiful sunrise. 

Watch for nails and broken glass.:(

Free camping just outside Joshua Tree. No amenities or designated campsites. Large open area where you can camp wherever you'd like. Previous campers have built fire pits from the rocks laying around. Beautiful views, off road vehicle recommend.

Grateful for free camping sites. Just outside of Julian which is a charming little town.

Decent for some seclusion/isloation as the road through is winding.

When in early January. 65-70 during the day. ~45 at night.

The quiet was my favorite part.

It's free camping so be respectful and clean up after yourself. That said, there are no facilities so pack it in and pack it out. The road going in isn't too rough, and you'll likely find makeshift fire pits. Work with what is already there instead of making making a mess. Bring your own shade too.

First come first served dispersed camping just outside Big Bear. Near bike trails. Was not crowded mid week, but spots were filling up closer to the weekend. There are a lot of flat spots to choose from.

What a great spot for some dispersed camping. There are sites all over the place. However, on the weekend it can get pretty busy. Fortunately, I was able to find a spot with not many people around at all. Where I was, I had zero Verizon signal.

Came  here to hike Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon. Before the trailhead there are lots of areas for dispersed camping. It's an unpaved road that can be challenging to drive in at times, so would recommend 4x4 high clearance vehicle. Overall a nice remote place to camp out in the desert!

Here on the Great Southern Overland Stage Route well off the beaten path is a dispersed camping area that allows you to enjoy the solitude and explore a bit. Ochre petroglyphs, fantastic night sky views, a variety of flora and fauna, hiking, and some challenging 4x4 lines await you here. Access is not always assured, check the local park conditions as well as the weather report. Washboard, softer sandy sections, and flash flooding may make the area difficult or ill advised to travel to. There are some public restrooms at the entrance, and some cell service, but not much else in the way of infrastructure at first glance. Yet the land was inhabited for thousands of years by the Kumeyaay “Those who face the water from a cliff”, Ipai, Kamia, and Tipai people. In the surrounding rock formations you may find morteros and metates used to process piñon, chia, and acorns that served in making dietary staples like shawii, known elsewhere as wiiwish. In addition to hunting and gathering, complex agricultural projects to cultivate maize, teparies, and beans.

Spent 4 nights here in February. A good amount of other campers, but not too crowded. I found the perfect spot tucked up against the rocks. I had my own private rock garden with so many variety of cacti and lots of birds. So peaceful.  I would definitely come back here again. 

No cell signal, but plenty of solar. Primitive camping--no amenities.

Depending on where you camp the roads go from semi rough to very rough. Tough if it rains. Lots of established camps at the beginning with a wide spread of space. Great for RV or none tent campers all around. I'm tent camping so drove to the outskirts and decided that the softer sand at the beginning was more suitable than the cracked surface of the once was lake. Lots of space between camps but not many high trees so isolated but in sight. That and the rougher roads plus high traffic led to the 3 rating. Free is free and no one within 100 ft so 3 is what it is for me. Not bad. Not good.

My husband and I were looking for good boondocking spots yesterday and we decided to check out this spot, after finding it on The Dyrt and a few other sites. It's definitely a beautiful place, and most of the road to the site is paved, but the road up to the actual spot is gravel, with lots of potholes and washboard areas, which would make it difficult for an RV. But the biggest issue for RVs is an area of the road that is very steep and immediately turns into a hairpin turn that we didn't even want to try in our 4x4, since the road is very thin and our SUV (a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder) is kind of thick. I'm sure it's probably nothing for people who are used to using their 4x4 for more than regular driving in the snow, etc., but it was too dodgy for us. There is no way that even a Class C rig would be able to take that steep incline and immediately do that sharp turn. And since there's nowhere to turn around in that spot, you'd have to back your rig down the incline and then quite a ways down the pitted, gravel road to get out of it. 

It's full of trees and seems fairly remote, but we had 5 cars pass us as we were backing away from the incline, so it's obviously a busy spot - you wouldn't be there alone, and this was on a Thursday.